National Jewish Assembly
UK Jewish membership body founded in 2022 by Gary Mond; later announced a merger with We Believe in Israel
| National Jewish Assembly
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Membership organisation; successive companies limited by guarantee (13932978, dissolved; 17320395, active) |
| Founded | 2022 (launch); first company incorporated 22 February 2022 |
| Dissolved | First company dissolved 1 April 2025; merger with We Believe in Israel announced as effective 31 December 2025 |
| Headquarters | Correspondence address published on nja.org.uk: NJA Suite 12, 116 Ballards Lane, London N3 2DN. Current company registered office: 25 Furnival Street, London EC4A 1JS |
| Key people | Gary Mond (founder and former chair) |
| Website | nja.org.uk |
The National Jewish Assembly (NJA) is a UK Jewish membership body founded in 2022 by Gary Mond, a former senior vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. At its launch it said that it would focus on three principles: to promote Jewish life, to support Israel and to fight antisemitism.[1] A company, National Jewish Assembly Ltd (13932978), was incorporated on 22 February 2022 and dissolved on 1 April 2025.[2] On 31 December 2025 The Jewish Chronicle reported that the NJA would merge that day with We Believe In Israel.[3] A new company of the same name, National Jewish Assembly Ltd (17320395), was incorporated on 4 July 2026, with its registered office at 25 Furnival Street, London EC4A 1JS.[4]
History
Mond launched the NJA in 2022 after leaving his senior vice-presidency of the Board of Deputies. In a June 2023 interview with Jewish News Syndicate he said that the Board was "leaning too far to the political left".[5] The Jewish Chronicle, reporting the later merger, wrote that Mond had started the NJA after he resigned from the Board of Deputies "when he was accused of Islamophobia over historic social media posts", and that he had presented the organisation as a "grassroots" alternative to the Board.[3] Those are the newspaper's account of the circumstances of his departure; the accusation is recorded here as reported, not as a finding of this article.
The launch statement of 27 April 2022 named Mond as chairman of the advisory board and Steve Winston, a former chief executive of the Zionist Federation of the United Kingdom and Ireland, as vice-chairman. It said that GB News commentator James Marlow had been appointed chief executive and that Dalia Hajioff, who had spent 16 years at the Zionist Federation, was events and projects manager. Mond said that "there is no other assembly-style Jewish body which anyone who is Jewish and who adheres to our three principles can join, upon paying a small membership fee", and that the NJA would not be involved "with any other political issues which are not directly relevant to Jewish people exclusively".[1] The website continued, when accessed in November 2026, to describe an advisory board directing the organisation and to give a correspondence address at NJA Suite 12, 116 Ballards Lane, London N3 2DN.[6]
Merger with We Believe in Israel
On 31 December 2025 Jane Prinsley, writing in The Jewish Chronicle, reported that the NJA would that day merge with We Believe in Israel. The article quoted an email from Mond to members in which he said that, after more than three and a half years, he would step down "effective December 31, 2025", that he had approached We Believe in Israel, and that "NJA's new phase of growth will be more effective if combined within WBII". He said the two teams would "deploy their respective activities in a synergistic and coordinated way". The Chronicle said the organisation had had 800 paying members and monthly speaker events, and that Catherine Perez-Shakdam, described as director of We Believe in Israel, was expected to welcome the decision. It also noted that We Believe in Israel had previously been headed by Luke Akehurst, later a Labour MP.[3]
The first company, of which Mond was the sole director, had already been dissolved on 1 April 2025 after a voluntary strike-off.[2] The second company, 17320395, was incorporated on 4 July 2026, after the announced merger date, as a private company limited by guarantee with SIC 85520 (cultural education). Its sole director at incorporation, and the only director recorded in November 2026, was Roger Graham Walters.[4] This page records those Companies House facts alongside the Chronicle's report of the merger; it does not treat the 2026 company as having been shown, in the sources opened here, to be identical with We Believe in Israel.
People
Mond was the sole director of the 2022 company throughout its life.[2] The launch statement and the organisation's advisory-board page (accessed November 2026) name the following board roles. The board page, as accessed on that date, lists vice-chairmen Laurence Julius and Keith Rowe, Young NJA chairman Michael Rowe and vice-chairman Gavriel Solomons, and members Garry Abrams, Sandra Dangoor, Florette Hyman, Sharna Kotlowski, Isabel Oberman and Derek Saker.[1][7]
Finances
Micro-entity accounts for the first company for the period from incorporation on 22 February 2022 to 31 March 2023, authorised on 9 August 2023 and signed by G. S. Mond, report current assets of £7,949, creditors of £101,200 and net liabilities of £93,251. The average number of employees was 2. The income statement was not delivered under the micro-entity provisions.[8] The Jewish Chronicle later referred to that figure as a loss of £93,251 in the first year and recalled Mond telling the paper at the time that the NJA was "perfectly solvent" and financially secure enough to "continue for the foreseeable future".[3] The accounts filed at Companies House are a balance sheet showing net liabilities of that amount; they do not themselves include a profit-and-loss account.
No accounts for the 2026 company had been filed by November 2026; the first accounts are due by 4 April 2028.[4]
Electoral Commission register (visits)
The Electoral Commission's register records one donation of type "Visit" in which the National Jewish Assembly is named as the donor: a visit by Suella Braverman from 31 March to 4 April 2024, valued at £27,801.27, described as a "Solidarity visit to Israel following October 7th attacks" (reference V0576328, reported 25 April 2024).[9]
| Dates | Recipient (as recorded) | Amount | Purpose (as recorded) | EC reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March–4 April 2024 | Suella Braverman | £27,801.27 | Solidarity visit to Israel following October 7th attacks | V0576328 |
See also
- Gary Mond
- We Believe In Israel
- Board of Deputies of British Jews
- Zionist Federation of the United Kingdom and Ireland
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 National Jewish Assembly, New Jewish Membership Body launches, 27 April 2022, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Companies House, National Jewish Assembly Ltd (13932978): overview, officers and filing history, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Jane Prinsley, National Jewish Assembly to merge with We Believe in Israel The Jewish Chronicle, 31 December 2025, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Companies House, National Jewish Assembly Ltd (17320395): overview, officers and filing history, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ Georgia L. Gilholy, 'I'm only alive because my dad failed a chemistry exam,' says London grassroots leader Jewish News Syndicate, 5 June 2023, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ National Jewish Assembly, Who We Are, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ National Jewish Assembly, Advisory Board, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ National Jewish Assembly Ltd, Micro company accounts made up to 31 March 2023, filed at Companies House, accessed 12 November 2026.
- ↑ Electoral Commission, V0576328, records read on 12 November 2026 through the Commission's API export of a donations search for "National Jewish Assembly", accessed 12 November 2026.